Exertional Heat Illness In Japanese Collegiate Basketball: Knowledge And Prevention Behaviors

Exertional heat illness (EHI) knowledge and prevention behaviors are well-studied among athletes in outdoor sports; however, indoor sports are not exempt from the risk of EHI. PURPOSE: To investigate knowledge and prevention practices of EHI among East Japan Conference Division 1 collegiate basketball athletes and team staff. METHODS: An online anonymous questionnaire was sent to fourteen male and eight female collegiate basketball teams in East Japan Conference Division 1 from June 13th to 27th, 2023. The questionnaire consisted of a section that tested their knowledge about EHI and its prevention (13 multi-select questions) and a section that investigated their current EHI prevention behaviors. The influence of previous EHI education on their behaviors was also examined using a Chi-square test. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05 a priori. RESULTS: Responses from 184 athletes and 37 team staff were included in the analysis. The average test scores of athletes and staff were 59.4% ± 10.8%and 64.9% ± 11.8%, respectively. Athletes and team staff had difficulty in identifying correct answers to questions regarding hyponatremia (% correct: athletes, 1.1%; team staff, 0.0%) and wet bulb globe temperature (% correct: athletes, 25.5%; team staff, 29.7%). Most athletes and team staff self-reported actively practicing EHI prevention behaviors (athletes, 83.2%; team staff, 94.6%). However, the details of actual behavior were limited to (1) hydration and (2) sodium supplementation. Athletes with previous EHI education were more likely to actively engage in EHI prevention behaviors (χ2[1] = 4.74, p = 0.03), but no association was observed among the team staff(χ2[1] = 2.78, p = 0.96). CONCLUSIONS: Division 1 basketball athletes and team staff in the East Japan Conference self-reported that they were actively engaged in EHI prevention; however, there is room for improvement in their knowledge and behaviors. The results also suggest that existing online EHI educational materials were not being utilized by basketball athletes and team staff, given the low test scores and limited examples of actual prevention behaviors captured in the current study.